


Trying to make this right

by childofsummer



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-26
Updated: 2014-06-09
Packaged: 2018-01-26 14:32:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1691723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/childofsummer/pseuds/childofsummer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after 5x06. Briefly mentions the Pyka kiss, but don't worry Bering and Wells is endgame. </p><p>H.G. Wells returns to the Warehouse and Claudia attempts to play matchmaker.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first thing that I have ever written, so please be kind. After the events of 5x06 I felt the need to fix the Pyka mess. This is what happened.
> 
> *Nothing related to Warehouse 13 belongs to me.

As the image in the time capsule comes to a standstill, Myka turns to Steve and Mrs Frederic, as Steve voices a conspiratorial “Hello!”

Myka, feeling quite pleased with her defining moment, responds “I know, right? I got to use all of my deductive skills and kick some ass.”

Steve breaks into a grin. How is it possible, that Myka Bering with all of her reasoning and observational skills, has completely missed this huge fact right in front of her. Her face is literally blown up to massive proportions right in front of them. “I was actually thinking how obvious it is that you have a thing for Pete.”

“What?” Myka scoffs.

“A love thing!” Oh, this is amazing. Where is Claudia? She is going to be so annoyed that she missed out on this.

Myka just laughs at Steve in complete disbelief. He really needs to get out more and interact with people that aren’t part of the warehouse, because he is obviously starting to suffer socially. “Yeah, that’s hilarious.”

“Look at your face.” Steve raises his eyebrow and tilts his head toward the image. She has to believe the expression on her own face, there is just no other reason for it.

Glancing up at the image of herself on the table, the first thing Myka feels is denial. The thought of her and Pete together is completely ridiculous, because he has always been like a brother to her. “No, no, NO, okay! Pete and I… There is no Pete and I. There is, I mean, there is…” What if there is a possibility of them being more than friends to each other. Myka will easily admit to herself that she has never been good at relationships, but that is just because she has always prided herself on being the best she can be for her career. What if she does want to be with Pete and she has been too tunnel-visioned to acknowledge anything that could be there. He is loyal, funny, honest and he always has her back. She knows that he has all of the qualities of someone that she could be with. “Oh my God, I’m in love with Pete.” Myka sighs and sits back dejectedly in her chair. “Oh, I hate myself so much right now.”

She looks to Mrs Frederic for her opinion on her, somewhat reluctant realisation. But with both Steve and Mrs Frederic grinning at her and nodding their support it makes it very difficult for Myka to process the situation, so she does all she can do in the moment. She escapes into the aisles to be alone, so she can try to rationalise her thoughts and get this mess sorted out.

***

It takes Myka longer than she would care to admit to find Pete, in the furnace room, mid-tantrum. This side of Pete is a part of his personality that she has never had the patience to tolerate, but instead of calling him out on his childishness, she needs answers to calm the chaotic thoughts rolling around in her head.

Pete is rambling away about the Warehouse moving and losing his job and his friends leaving, and Myka just grabs him and kisses him. For a shocked second he doesn't move, but then his lips respond to hers and both of them realise exactly what this means for them.

Myka pulls away from Pete with a wide grin on her face, because as she was kissing him she realised that it isn't him that she wants this with, but rather a stunning, dark-haired Victorian author. She has never been surer of anything in her life and now she just has to turn her fantasy into reality. First though, she has to break her best friend’s heart. He is standing there with a look on his face that is half utter disbelief, one quarter shock and one terrifying quarter that looks far too much like love.

“Pete. Listen. I’m sorry. I just had to be sure, and now I know that I can’t be with you.” She looks him in the eye, waiting for a reaction. Any reaction at all. He is just standing there staring into space. Just as she starts to panic, he breaks out of his trance and gives her a small smile.

“It’s okay, Mykes. Don’t stress about this. Now we both know where we stand.” When Myka had kissed him all of the romantic thoughts of her, that had been plaguing him for the last few weeks, had evaporated instantly. Now he is left with a nauseating feeling in the pit of his stomach, because had pretty much just made out with his sister.

“Really. Are you sure you’re okay about this?” Myka is worried he might be upset with her, he looks a bit pale and is struggling to look her in the eye.

Pete chuckles and just like that everything feels like it is going back to normal. “Truly, but let’s make a deal. We never talk about this again! Or tell anyone!”

“I totally agree!” She pulls Pete into a tight hug and laughs. “I have to go, so I’ll leave you to do whatever it is that you are doing.”

Pete lets his arms drop back to his sides and smiles at her, which she takes as her cue to leave. Only Pete could take a situation as awkward as that one had been and make it seem unimportant. Thank God. She has no idea how she would have dealt with an emotional, clingy Pete.

***

Weeks later, after the Warehouse moving crisis is averted, Claudia comes running down the aisles looking for Myka. She finds her doing inventory in the IRS Quartum and comes sliding to a stop just behind her, with a huge grin plastered on her face.

“Hey Claude, what’s up?” Myka isn’t sure if she should be happy or concerned about the young inventor’s level of excitement. So she chooses to remain impassive for now.

“I have news!” Claudia’s smile just gets impossibly wider.

“Well. What is it?” Myka is genuinely curious now.

“This is amazing! I mean it was bound to happen eventually, but it’s really happening now and oh my God, think of the shenanigans!” Claudia is vibrating with excitement and starting to ramble.

“Claude, what’s happening?” Myka asks, before she can start rambling again.

“H.G. is coming back! Permanently. It just got cleared with the Regents and everything!” She squeals a little and starts jumping in place.

“What about Giselle?” Myka can’t help the pang of jealousy she feels when she thinks of Helena’s girlfriend.

“H.G. dumped her and now she’s coming home, where she belongs.” Claudia states with a matter-of-fact certainty. She then looks Myka up and down with a smirk and says “We all know the two of you are endgame anyway.” And with that she takes off running back to the office, leaving Myka stunned speechless, with her forgotten clipboard dropped at her feet.

***

Two weeks later everyone is gathered at the B&B having a celebratory dinner to welcome H.G.Wells back to life at the Warehouse. Artie surprised everyone with how comfortable he is to have her back, he hasn’t voiced a single complaint and when questioned about her abilities as an agent the only thing he has said is ‘I believe she would give her life for the Warehouse.’ Myka doesn’t know what has caused this turn around and is definitely not about to question it. She looks up from her place at the table at the faces of her friends, her family. Steve and Claudia are bantering about a new Xbox game and look like they are on the verge of throwing food at each other, and Pete is teasing and encouraging them. Abigail is just sitting back smiling, while Artie is scowling and calling them all children and Helena. Helena has her head thrown back laughing at the lunacy that is their Warehouse family, her voice is like music and Myka knows she will never get enough of her. She smiles and eats her food before Pete has a chance to start stealing it off of her plate. Right at this moment Myka is happier than she has been in a long time, and she knows it’s because her family is all together again. Helena is finally home.

After dinner Pete and Steve challenge each other to Call of Duty, Artie grumbles himself back to the Warehouse and Abigail excuses herself to her room. Myka is sitting in the library reading when she realises that Helena and Claudia are unaccounted for, she lost focus on her book almost twenty minutes ago, so she decides to go and find them.  
She walks upstairs after hearing some metallic crashing sounds from Claudia’s room and finds Helena and Claudia crowded over her desk tinkering with a steampunk design contraption that Myka can’t identify. She stands in the doorway and watches the two brilliant women at work. Helena has taken Claudia under her wing and is endeavouring to teach her everything she knows. Claudia, for her part, loves having her as a mentor and is constantly sharing ideas and designs with the Victorian woman and they are currently building at least three never-before-seen inventions. Myka smiles and walks to her room not wanting to disturb the two inventors at their work.

Claudia, out of the corner of her eye, sees Myka leave and grins. “Hey H.G. can I ask you a personal question?”

“Of course darling. You should know that you can always ask me anything.” Helena smiles an encouraging smile at the young redhead. She still can’t believe that after everything that she has done that she has gained the trust and respect of such a brilliant young woman.

“Well, I was just wondering… Actually, never mind.” Claudia chickens out at the last minute.

“Hey, I promise I won’t tell anyone, if that’s what you are concerned about.” Helena places a reassuring hand on Claudia’s shoulder.

The younger woman’s face is currently turning a bright pink, but she manages to stutter. “No! It’s not that I promise. I trust you. It’s just… Well… Have you ever had feelings…? No, not feelings… Maybe, sort of an affection…” Mercifully Helena cuts her off before she can embarrass herself further.

“Claudia, are you trying to tell me that you have romantic feelings for someone?” Helena’s face softens and she puts a comforting arm around Claudia.

“What? Me? No this is about Myka!” Claudia runs her hand through her short hair in exasperation and pushes Helena away.

“You have feelings for Myka?” Helena has an unreadable expression on her face, but she is feeling beyond confused.

Claudia just stares back at her shock.

When she makes no move to speak Helena continues “I honestly did not see this coming, especially after meeting that lovely young man that works at the coffee shop, but I am here for you if you…”

“NO!” Claudia screeches at the older woman. This is definitely not going the way she wanted. Even the thought of her and Myka is absurd. Maybe that is why Helena is now staring at her like she has lost her mind. She takes a deep, calming breath.

“No.” she repeats more steadily. “You and Myka. Do you have feelings for Myka?” she looks for any trace of reaction on Helena’s face. The older woman lets out a soft laugh and smiles gently at Claudia.

“Well, that certainly makes more sense.” Helena laughs again and Claudia can’t help but join in.

“Yeah, it does. But you’re avoiding the question.” Claudia levels a playful glare at her mentor.

“I am afraid…” Helena’s gaze drops to the floor and her next words are so quiet that Claudia has to strain to hear them. “I think I am in love with her.”

Helena shyly raises her head to meet Claudia’s gaze, and she finds the girl grinning at her like all of her Christmases have come at once. Claudia squeals and launches herself at the older woman and catches her in a crushing hug that topples them both to the floor. Moments later Pete, Steve and Myka come crashing into the room, teslas drawn.

“Are you guys okay?” Pete looks at them both still tangled up on the floor.

“We are fine. Claudia just got a bit overexcited.” Helena pushes herself up off of the floor.

“Alright, well it’s bedtime, so… Move it people, let’s go.” Pete starts pushing people out of the bedroom.

Claudia jumps up from her position on the floor once they all leave and pulls Helena in for a side hug. “H.G. I’ve got your back on this. I’m gonna make sure you and Myka get together, because I ship the hell out of this.”

“You what?” Helena frowns. She really needs to learn more of this modern slang that Claudia keeps using.

“But you need to get out of my room so I can think of a plan.” And with that she pushes Helena out the door. First thing in the morning she will recruit Jinksy and between the two of them they should be able to get the two stubborn women to admit their feelings for each other. She now knows with one hundred percent certainty that H.G. loves Myka, and she is almost positive that Myka returns those feelings. Claudia falls asleep with a smile on her face and the beginnings of a plan forming in her mind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I accidentally got a bit sidetracked with the madness that is Claudia. There will be more Bering and Wells next chapter I promise.

After breakfast the next morning when everyone is getting ready to go to work, Claudia pulls Steve aside to convince him to help her. “Jinksy! My bestie, how would you like to help me on a top secret mission?”

“I didn’t think we had any pings today.” He looks at her with confusion as he finishes tucking in his shirt.

“Oh, no, this isn’t for work. But it will be one of the greatest accomplishments of this decade if we can pull it off!” She grins at him and Steve knows by the look in her eye that whatever it is will probably get them both in trouble.

He releases a long suffering sigh, and then smirks at her. “Okay, but try not to get us in too much trouble.”

Claudia looks mock offended and lightly punches him in the arm. “Would I ever let that happen?” Steve simply raises his eyebrow. “Anyway…. We have to get Myka and H.G. together! H.G. already told me that she’s into Myka and I’m pretty sure Myka feels the same way.”

Steve crosses his arms. “Are you sure? I thought Myka liked Pete.”

Claudia’s eyes bulge comically wide. “Gross! Dude, no, they are like brother and sister. She is definitely into H.G.” Steve doesn’t really look convinced so Claudia decides to up the stakes. “I’ll bet you one hundred dollars that they end up together.”

Steve sticks out his hand to shake. “Deal. What’s the plan?”

***

After a lot of arguing, Steve finally won Claudia over to the idea of getting Helena to admit her feelings to Myka. Claudia corners her around lunchtime in the office and makes her sit in the swivel chair. “H.G. I’ve been thinking about what you said last night about Myka, and I think you should just tell her.”

Helena just smiles sadly and takes Claudia’s hand in her own. “Claudia, I truly appreciate your efforts here, but they are wasted. I can never tell Myka how I feel because there is no way she could feel the same about me. I am trying to save the both of us from certain heartache. It is the least I can do after everything else that I have done.”

Helena stands up to leave and Claudia feels guilty for making her look so sad. “I’m sorry.”

Helena gives the young inventor a small smile and shakes her hair away from her face. “Sweetheart don’t ever be sorry for believing in a love story. You just have to remember that not all of them end the way you would like them to.”

The older woman turns and walks out of the office with a dejected smile, leaving Claudia more determined than ever before. She speaks out to the quiet room with a playful defiance. “Well, I believe in this story and I will make sure it ends the way it should.”

***

Steve lets out a yawn as he stretches his arms above his head. “Claude, do you really think this will work?”

She turns away from her handiwork and gives him an incredulous look. “Of course it will Jinksy! With Pete and Artie in Bali and Abigail visiting her family, this is the perfect opportunity.”

“To trap them in the bathroom so they have to talk to each other? I think we could have done better.” He leans against the wall and folds his arms.

She just shrugs at him and finishes adjusting the door handle. “There it’s done, now we just have to wait until they come in to brush their teeth and shut the door on them.”

“They are going to be really pissed off that we locked them in there you know.” He turns and starts walking towards the stairs, after Claudia has picked up all of her tools.

The young redhead skips after him. “You can’t even tell I did anything, besides we’ll come back at lunch and let them out.”

Steve and Claudia sit at the dining room table pretending to do paperwork, as they watch Myka clean up her mess from breakfast. Claudia can’t help the smile that forces its way onto her face as she watches the older woman ascend the stairs towards the bathroom. With Helena nowhere in sight they take it as a sign that their plan is in motion. Claudia bounds up the stairs and hears Myka ask for the toothpaste, so she launches herself at the door and swings it shut before anyone can see her. She then sprints down the stairs taking them three at a time and meets Steve at the front door.

She fist bumps Steve and drags him towards the car. “The plan worked perfectly, now let’s get to the Warehouse before Artie realises we’re not there yet.”

Myka is banging on the bathroom door and shaking the handle, but it won’t budge. “HELP! CLAUDIA, STEVE! We’re stuck in the bathroom!”

“It’s no use they must have gone to the Warehouse already. Do you have your phone or your Farnsworth so we can call for help?” Abigail sighs and sits on the edge of the bathtub.

Myka kicks the door before turning to face the other woman. “No they are both downstairs with my keys.”

Abigail runs a hand through her hair in frustration. “What are we gonna do?”

Myka slides down the door until she is seated on the floor. “I guess we are just going to have to wait until someone realises I never made it to work.”

Claudia is almost skipping with excitement when she steps out of the umbilicus into the office. Steve is following right behind her when she stops dead in her tracks and mumbles out a curse. He glances over to see what has drawn her attention and sees H.G. Wells with an armful of paperwork.

Claudia visibly cringes. “H.G. what are you doing here? We thought you were still at the B&B.”

The Victorian woman just shrugs and starts arranging papers on the desk. “I got a call from Mrs. Frederic this morning and had to come in early.”

Steve crosses his arms in confusion. “But we heard Myka talking to someone when we left.”

“It was probably Abigail. She arrived home quite late last night.” Helena straightens up with a crumpled sheet of paper in her hand.

Claudia looks over to Steve and sees him smirking at her. “Um, I have to go back to the B&B. I just realised I forgot something important!” Claudia grabs her keys and runs out through the umbilicus.

***

Two and half weeks after the bathroom incident, with absolutely no visible progress, Claudia has decided to take drastic measures. She is looking through the shelves in the Warehouse, with Steve nagging her about all of the repercussions of using artifacts, the biggest of all being the wrath of Artie.

She stops at a section set aside for artifacts from the Woodstock Festival. She checks one of the monitors and picks up two drumsticks. “Jinksy, this is it. These are going to help H.G. and Myka admit their feelings for each other.”

Steve just shakes his head at her. “What exactly do they do?”

She twirls the drumsticks around her gloved fingers and smirks. “Well these are the drumsticks used by Doug Clifford at Woodstock. Doug Clifford is the drummer for Creedence Clearwater Revival and they were the first band to sign up for the festival.”

“Yes, but what do they do Claude?” He raises his eyebrows at her.

“Well, we all know that Woodstock was the ultimate peace and love festival. These drumsticks are imbued with all of the good feelings from that. They make people speak out loud about all of the things that they love. So naturally if H.G. and Myka touch them they will announce how they feel.” She starts the walk back to the office while air drumming, with Steve laughing behind her.

“Claude, you and I both know nothing is that easy.” He grins as he catches up to her.

“It will be this time!” She laughs.

When they finally get back to the B&B, dinner is being put on the table so Claudia runs upstairs to stash the drumsticks in her room. She tries to put them in her desk drawer but she fumbles them and they graze her wrist. She jerks back and they fall on the floor, as she bends to pick them up she hears Pete calling for her so she puts them on her desk under an abandoned T-shirt.

She grins all the way through dinner and it seems her mood is infectious, because everyone is laughing and joking around. Eventually everyone goes to bed, but when Claudia gets back to her room she has trouble sleeping.

The next morning everyone, minus Claudia, is seated at the table in comfortable silence. Pete is shovelling cereal into his mouth like there is no tomorrow, when Helena starts choking on her tea. Myka starts patting her on the back. “Helena, are you okay?”

Regaining some composure and breathing normally again, she smiles at Myka. “Oh, I’m fine. But I am quite positive that I just saw Claudia run past the window completely naked.”

There is a collective ‘WHAT?’ and Steve and Myka get up and go to the window. Myka’s jaw drops and Steve starts laughing hysterically, because Claudia is in the garden in her birthday suit clutching two drumsticks like a microphone.

They turn back to the table where Artie is currently turning a dark shade of crimson and Pete, Abigail and Helena are laughing quietly.

“Get her inside immediately!” Artie roars at them.

“Yeah, seeing Claude naked is not something I ever need to see.” Pete goes back to inhaling his cereal.

Abigail stands up and starts clearing the table. “Steve, Myka and Helena should go. I doubt she would listen to the rest of us anyway.”

“Alright we’ll go. And Artie. Breathe.” Myka laughs as she follows Steve and Helena into the yard.

The three agents find the young inventor singing softly under a tree in the back yard. As they get closer to her they realise that her eyes are a vibrant, emerald green and she does not seem to realise their presence.

Myka casts a worried glance at Steve and Helena. “She’s been whammied hasn’t she?”

Steve nods grimly. “It’s the drumsticks. We have to get them off of her.”

“Claudia, darling. Could you please hand me those drumsticks?” Helena gently approaches the younger woman and reaches out her hand.

The young redhead jerks back violently and screeches at them. “NO! They are mine!” She takes off running towards the main road. Steve and Myka begin to chase her, but Helena cannot control her laughter enough to go after them.

“We have to catch her before she makes it into town.” Steve is panting as he tries to catch up to Claudia, but Myka is already limber this morning and starts gaining more ground. Just as Claudia reaches the end of the driveway, and is about to turn so she will be exposed to the general public, Myka crash tackles into her like a line-backer. Steve quickly catches up and bags the drumsticks. As the sparks fly out of the bag, her eyes return to their normal colour and a look of pure mortification crosses her features. She pushes Myka off of herself and demands Steve’s T-shirt, which he hastily gives to her.

She is bright red in the face when she asks “How many of you saw me naked?”

“Just the two of us and Helena, who has probably died laughing by the way.” Steve laughs as he slings a protective arm around Claudia’s shoulder.

Great. Now all she has to do is go inside and face the lecture from Artie and then she can spend the next six months hiding in her room in shame. Myka seems to take pity on her and gives her a small smile.

“Well it could have been worse. Pete could have been the one that had to tackle you.”


	3. Chapter 3

Claudia walks up next to Steve, who is patiently waiting for their luggage to appear on the carousel at Copenhagen Airport, and slaps him on the arm. “Jinksy, look! Myka is totally checking out H.G.”

He glances further down the carousel at Myka and laughs to himself. “Damn, I might actually lose this bet.”

“You never had a chance at winning. I actually have a plan to move this along.” Claudia is grinning from ear to ear as she pulls her phone from her pocket.

“Oh no! Claude you seriously can’t have forgotten the consequences of interfering with this already. It was only three weeks ago!” He shakes his head at her.

Claudia gets a pink blush on her cheeks. “I don’t even think therapy will help me forget that. Besides, this will work.”

Steve reaches out and pulls two bags from the carousel. “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The metallic buzzing of Myka’s Farnsworth startles her back to reality. She quickly glances around to see if anyone noticed her staring at Helena’s silky, dark hair. She notices Claudia and Steve further down the line arguing about something. Whatever it is Claudia seems to have won. The younger woman turns and starts walking to where she is standing with Helena. She flips open the Farnsworth to see Artie glaring back at her.

“What took you so long? Where are you?” He huffs impatiently at her.

“Artie we just got off of an eighteen hour flight. We are only leaving the airport now.” She looks up to see her three companions listening intently.

“Well you have to get to Kronborg Castle as soon as possible. It’s only a short drive North of Copenhagen.” He adjusts his glasses and glares at her.

She tilts her head and starts walking with her small group out of the airport. “Do you have any idea what the artifact looks like?”

“No, but I think I’ve narrowed it down. Kronborg Castle was originally built as a fortress called Krogen. In the 1420’s the Danish King Eric of Pomerania commanded that anyone wishing to enter or leave the Baltic Sea had to pay a price. They had to pass through the narrow channel the fortress overlooks, so the King was able to control the flow of ships. Many captains refused to pay and their ships and crews were destroyed.” He sits back and folds his arms.

“So we are looking for something to do with ships?” Steve asks while readjusting his grip on his bag.

“Or the battlements that sunk them?” Claudia lets a frown ghost over her face.

“Or something that may have belonged to King Eric?” Helena lets her arm graze against Myka’s.

“Sounds like you have this under control.” Artie abruptly hangs up.

Myka grins and looks at her team. “Okay let’s get to the hotel and first thing in the morning we’ll head out to Kronborg Castle.”

They arrive at their hotel and Steve and Helena drop into the couch in the lobby, while Myka and Claudia go to the concierge desk to get their room keys.

“Hello. We have a booking under Donovan for four rooms.” Claudia taps the desk impatiently.

“Donovan. Ah, yes here it is. I’m sorry you only booked two rooms.” The petite blonde behind the desk looks quite worried and she quickly glances at her manager.

“No I definitely booked four. Is there anything you can do?” Claudia looks to Myka for her reaction, but the older woman has her face set to a blank mask.

“I’m really sorry, but it is too late to have more rooms set up. If you are staying for more than tonight I can make sure we upgrade you all in the morning.” The poor blonde is starting to go pale and her smile is shifting nervously on her face.

“Well we could share. What do you think Myka? One night shouldn’t hurt.” Claudia turns to Myka and folds her arms.

Myka looks from Claudia to the concierge and sighs. “Fine, but only because I’m exhausted. Could we have the keys, please?”

The young blonde visibly relaxes and the smile returns to her face with full force as she hands over the room keys. “Enjoy your stay.”

Claudia has to school all of her features so she doesn’t start grinning like a madwoman, and possibly start skipping, as they walk back over to where Steve and Helena are waiting.

Steve knows instantly that Claudia is up to something and he raises his eyebrow at her, questioning silently.

“Hey Jinksy, guess what? We’re bunking together tonight.” She grabs his hands and drags him towards the elevator.

Just as they get out of earshot he loudly whispers at her. “You planned this didn’t you?”

She just grins wildly in response.

 

***

 

Helena rises from her seat on the couch, after Steve and Claudia make their hasty retreat, and offers her arm to Myka. “Shall we?”

To the Victorian woman’s great surprise Myka accepts the proffered arm and begins walking towards the elevator with her arm in arm. She can’t stop the small smile that forces its way onto her face.

“You don’t mind that we have to share?” Myka can feel a blush beginning to creep up her neck and she prays that the beautiful woman next to her cannot see it.

“Of course not, darling. It is far from the worst thing that has happened to me since beginning my work at the Warehouse.” She slightly tightens her grip on Myka’s arm as she reaches forward to press the button that will take them to their floor. Her heart is pounding rapidly and she is almost certain that the curly-haired agent next to her can hear it.

They ride the elevator in comfortable silence and walk all the way to their room without releasing their hold on each other. When they reach the door Myka laughs nervously and unlocks it, she then removes her arm from Helena’s grip to push the door open. The inventor follows her into the room and shuts the door.

Myka picks up her bag and places it on the bed, she starts rummaging through it looking for her pyjamas. “Helena, is it alright if I have the first shower?”

The inventor turns back from the window and smiles. “Go ahead. I don’t mind waiting.”

“Thank you. I’ll be out soon.” Myka hastily gathers her things and steps into the bathroom.

Helena wanders over to her suitcase and pulls out her own pyjamas. She places them on the corner of the bed and sits beside them. She thinks about how easily she has fallen into such a domestic scene with the beautiful agent. She glances back at the bed with a sad apprehension that it does not look big enough. She has a growing fear gnawing at the pit of her stomach that she will accidentally expose her true feelings to Myka and lose her valued friendship. Just as she begins contemplating how to escape this room, the agent emerges from the bathroom and gives her a small smile.

Myka’s curls are damp and she reaches into her bag for her hairbrush, so she can brush them out before they become too unruly. She looks up and finds Helena staring back at her. She can feel the blush returning with full force up her neck and across her cheeks.

“Which side of the bed do you want?” Myka turns to face the mirror and starts brushing her hair.

“I don’t have a preferred side.” Helena responds quietly as she picks up her things and steps into the bathroom.

Myka finishes brushing her hair and collapses into the bed. She falls asleep before Helena makes it back into the room. The inventor packs away her things and slowly climbs into bed next to her. Myka has a few loose curls lying across her face and Helena only hesitates for a moment before she gently brushes them aside with her fingertips. She studies Myka’s sleeping face and marvels at how peaceful she looks while she is resting.

“You mean so much to me.” She whispers to the silent woman next to her.

The next morning Myka wakes up with a stray beam of sunlight on her face, and the first thing that forces itself into her conscious mind is that she is not alone. At some point in the night her legs became tangled with those of the woman next to her and her hand has snaked its way into the back of the other woman’s shirt. But the thing currently drawing all of her focus is the hand that is gently resting on the bare skin of her abdomen. She takes a moment to study the sleeping woman’s features. It is not often that Myka is granted a chance to see Helena looking so peaceful and content. She gently removes her hand from the inventor’s shirt and starts to slowly untangle their legs. The hand on her stomach gently applies more pressure and she feels like she has been burned. The fire starts in her stomach and spreads from her head to her toes making her feel dazed and stealing her ability to swallow. She freezes when she realises that Helena is now awake and regarding her with a groggy confusion. The inventor yawns and rolls away to stretch herself out, removing her hand in the process. Myka lets out a breath that she didn’t know she was holding.

“Morning.” Her voice breaks on the word through her sleep dulled haze.

Helena lets out a laugh that to Myka’s ears sounds like music. “Good morning darling. Did you sleep well?”

“I did actually. How about you?” Myka grins at her and sits up.

“I was quite comfortable. It seems these sleeping arrangements weren’t so bad after all.” Helena swings her legs out of the bed and stands up, stretching one more time before collecting her clothes and heading into the bathroom.

Myka just laughs in agreement at her retreating form. She thinks to herself that she could wake up like this every day and be an incredibly happy woman, but until she figures out exactly how Helena feels, she is not going to make a move. She does not want to risk her friendship with the brilliant woman, so for now she will be content with this. She sighs in defeat and begins to get ready for the day.

 

*** 

 

Claudia flops exhausted into her assigned seat on the plane next to Steve. She groans in annoyance at the thought of the eighteen hours it is going to take to get home and runs her palms over her face and through her hair.

“Jinksy. How is it possible that one boot buckle could cause so much trouble?” She thinks back through the day they just had traipsing around the castle avoiding possessed sailors, flying cannonballs and almost drowning in any forms of water. “Today sucked!”

He isn’t going to argue with her, because he completely agrees. Today did suck. He got pulled into a fountain by a possessed lunatic and held under the surface, and if it wasn’t for Myka kicking the guy’s head in he would have drowned.  He reaches over and gently squeezes her forearm.

“Well I think it is getting better. Look Claude.” He gives her a small smile and tilts his head towards the sleeping forms of Helena and Myka two rows ahead of them. They fell asleep almost as soon as the airplane took off and after looking more closely at them he realised that they have their fingers loosely wrapped together and are leaning against each other.

Claudia sits up to have a better look and a wide smile splits across her face. She lets out a quiet cheer and fist pumps the air.

“Oh yeah. My plan totally worked. It was definitely worth the awkward spooning sesh we woke up to this morning.” She laughs so loud the old woman sitting next to her scowls furiously.

Steve starts laughing as well. “I thought we decided that that was one of those things we are never going to speak of again.”

Claudia blushes furiously as she thinks back to the horrifying morning wood situation that had confronted them when they woke up.

“Okay, maybe not completely worth it. But, I still get to call credit when one day in the future they tell us about the day they got together.” She starts giggling uncontrollably again and Steve chuckles in agreement.

“Don’t get too far ahead of yourself. We need verbal confirmation before you get any money off me.” He adjusts his neck pillow and leans back into his seat.

“I’ll have you handing your money over by the end of the week.” She smirks at him confidently and sits back, settling in for the flight home.


	4. Chapter 4

Claudia begins packing away the various tools that she has laid out all over the floor, while Helena replaces a wall panel in the Gooery at the Warehouse. It is past midnight and the two women are alone, having just finished an emergency repair on the neutraliser distribution unit. Claudia takes a moment to study the older woman, because in the last week, since they got back from Copenhagen she has been quiet and withdrawn and Claudia is beginning to worry about her. She voiced her concern to Pete this morning, but he just said ‘It’s probably just that time of the month, if you know what I mean.’ Claudia stands up with her tool bag and walks over to Helena.

“You ready to go home H.G.?” she asks the older woman softly. Afraid that if she speaks too loud she might startle her.

The Victorian woman sighs quietly and nods her head in the affirmative. Claudia slings her bag over her shoulder and they begin the long walk to the car in silence, but after ten minutes Claudia unravels and grabs Helena’s arm to pull her to a stop.

“H.G. what’s wrong? And don’t say nothing, because you and I are friends and I know when you are not okay. Please tell me.” Claudia looks at the older woman with concern etched across her features.

“I’m fine. Truly I am. You shouldn’t worry yourself over me dear.” She runs a hand through her dark hair and begins walking again.

Claudia huffs and grabs the inventor by her hands and holds on tightly. “That’s a lie. You and I both know it.”

“Claudia…” Her voice breaks on the word and she drops her face so the younger woman cannot see the tears that are beginning to pool in her eyes. She does not expect the tight hug that Claudia wraps her up in and it unleashes the tears she was trying so valiantly to hold in. She begins quietly sobbing into the redhead’s shoulder and clutches at her jacket. This only prompts the younger woman to hold her tighter and wait patiently until her tears have passed.

“You once told me that I could tell you anything. I hope you know that that goes both ways. I’m here if you need to talk.” Claudia whispers softly into her dark hair.

Those soft words prompt Helena to release her grip on the redhead and begin wiping away her tears. “It’s silly though.”

“I don’t care. It obviously means something to you.” Claudia smiles at her encouragingly and takes the older woman’s tear stained hands in her own.

Helena takes a few deep breaths to calm herself and looks at the supportive smile the younger woman is giving her.

“Myka has been avoiding me for days. And I don’t know why. Everything was fine in Copenhagen and then we got home and something changed. I haven’t done anything differently and as far as I know I haven’t done anything to upset or offend her. I just want things to go back to the way they were.” She takes a few more deep breaths to try and control the word vomit that she just unleashed.

“I thought you guys were good. I mean, I saw you holding hands with each other on the plane.” Claudia looks as confused as Helena feels.

“Oh, that. I am a very nervous flyer. Myka has always held my hand for the takeoff.” Helena finally has a smile forming on her face.

Claudia grins at her and laughs. “Come on H.G. it’s late we should get back to the B&B. And everything will work itself out. Don’t worry.

“Thank you Claudia. You have become a great friend to me and you are a brilliant young woman.” Helena smiles and takes the younger woman’s arm in her own.

Claudia tries to fight the blush that is working its way up her neck, but it is a losing battle. First thing in the morning she has to come up with a way to sort out the distance that has come between Helena and Myka. But first she needs to sleep, because today was a long, long day.

 

*** 

 

Steve is shaking his head in disbelief as he finds himself, once again, being dragged through the aisles to find something to help Claudia with one of her schemes.

“Claude! You can’t seriously be doing this again.” He questions her incredulously.

“Jinksy I’ve already told you why this is important.” She glares at him and goes back to scanning the shelves for what she is looking for.

“I don’t understand why you can’t just talk to Myka.” He jogs to catch up to her.

“Because Myka is family and I have so much respect for her, but she kind of intimidates me when it comes to stuff like this.” She comes to a stop in front of a bronze medallion with a simple design etched onto the front.

“Asking her a personal question?” He raises a judgmental eyebrow at her.

“Yes!” She picks up the medallion and compares it to the image on the monitor.

“Fine, but tell me exactly what this one does.” He smirks at her.

“It will let me read Myka’s mind, so then I’ll know if I can talk to her about H.G. or not, because I’ll know if she likes her back.” She puts the medallion in a neutraliser bag and slips it into her pocket.

“What’s the downside?” he asks as they start the trek back to office.

“If we don’t get the medallion neutralised fast enough Myka will be able to read my mind too.” She skips a bit to keep up with Steve’s longer stride.

“How does it work?” he takes a right at the end of the aisle.

“I just have to hold it in one hand and touch Myka’s forehead with the other.” She grins at the serious look plastered to Steve’s face.

“As long as we don’t have to chase you down while you are naked again, I can go along with it I guess.” He chuckles at the memory.

“Hey, how was I supposed to know that everyone reacts differently to those drumsticks?” she playfully slaps his arm.

“Whose medallion is that anyway?” he spies the staircase to the office in the distance.

“Axel Hellstrom. He lived in Germany and while he was fighting in World War 1 he took up muscle reading. He moved to America after the war and became one of the best mentalists the world has ever seen. He was so good that people believed he could really read their minds.” She grinned as she started ascending the stairs to the office.

“I hope you know what you are doing.” He mumbles to himself.

 

***

 

Claudia finds Myka settled in the library reading a book after dinner and she gently knocks on the door to alert the older woman to her presence. The agent glances up from her book and sits it aside when the redhead enters the room.

“Hey Claude, is everything okay?” she asks as she removes her reading glasses and stretches her arms above her head.

“Yeah, I’m good. How about you?” Claudia flops onto the couch next to the older woman.

“Everything is good, yeah.” Myka gives a small smile to the young redhead. “What are you here for Claudia? You don’t just make meaningless small talk with me.”

Claudia takes a deep breath and quickly presses her palm to the older woman’s forehead. Myka sits back in surprise as the young redhead pulls her hand back. Myka squints in confusion at Claudia as the young woman sits forward and stares into her eyes.

“Uh, Claude. What’s happening right now? You’re kind of freaking me out.” The agent places a concerned hand on the redhead’s shoulder.

Claudia just sighs and runs a hand through her hair. “Nothing, I just lost a bet with Pete about the colour of your eyes.”

“Okay then?” Myka just shakes her head in amusement as the young woman practically runs out of the room calling for Steve.

Steve is waiting on the stairs when Claudia comes barrelling out of the sitting room.

“Well? How did it go?” he stands up as she reaches him.

“It didn’t work. I don’t know why.” She huffs in frustration.

“We’ll come up with something else in the morning.” He places a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Come on, let’s go to bed.”

 

***

 

Claudia wakes up the next morning with a wicked headache and her vision is blurry. She manages to stumble herself to the bathroom in an attempt to find some painkillers. She is on her way back to her bedroom and has swallowed two tablets so her body is starting to feel more normal, when Pete walks past and gives her his patented I’m-hungry-bring-on-the-food smile.

“Morning Mykes.” He gives her a playful wave as he reaches the stairs.

What the hell? Did he just call her Mykes? She runs her hand into her hair to pull it off of her face, but something is wrong. Her hair feels curly, so she grabs a handful and pulls it into her line of vision. Oh crap. Crap, crap, CRAP, crap. This is Myka’s hair. She runs back to the bathroom and almost breaks down the door in her haste.

“Myka! Oh my God! Get out!” screeches a fully naked Steve.

Claudia turns around as he manages to wrap himself in a towel. “Jinksy. It’s me.”

“Claudia?” he asks in confusion.

“Yes. It’s me. In Myka’s body.” She states in a panic.

“You’re a dead woman when she wakes up.” He chuckles in exasperation. “Get out so I can shower and I’ll help you.”

“Fine.” She turns and runs out of the bathroom.

She crashes back into her bedroom and shuts the door, before she sees the body that is currently occupying the space in her bed. She is in Myka’s body. She woke up in Myka’s room. That means that her body is now Myka’s body. And that body is now awake and staring at her with murder in her eyes.

“CLAUDIA!” Myka screeches at her own body, in a voice that is most definitely not hers.

“Myka. Don’t panic. This is fine.” She raises her hands defensively.

“This! This is not fine! This is so far from fine! What did you do?!” she screams at Claudia as she pulls herself out of the bed.

She is saved from answering when Pete, Helena and a half dressed Steve come running into the room.

“Are you guys okay? We heard screaming?” Pete chokes out through a mouthful of toast.

“I am so far from okay!” Myka yells at him.

Helena steps forward and places a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Claudia, dear, what’s wrong?”

“Well. For starters. I am Myka.” She looks Claudia in the eye angrily.

Helena’s hand jerks off her shoulder like she has been burned, and she spins around to look at Claudia in Myka’s body.

“Oh, Artie is going to murder you guys.” Pete says fearfully.

“Fix this Claudia.” Myka glares at her.

“Yep, I’m on it.” She runs over to her desk and pulls out the medallion and a static bag. She throws it in and sparks fly, but nothing happens.

“Did it work?” Helena asks as the two afflicted women collapse.

 

***

 

Claudia wakes up for the second time today disorientated, but at least this time she is in her own room. She hears a groan and turns her head to find Myka regaining consciousness next to her. She lets out a relieved sigh and stretches out her arms.

“Oh good, you’re awake.” Artie glares at her angrily.

Claudia cringes at the sound of his voice, but carries on jokingly. “Hey Artie, fancy seeing you here.”

Myka sits up next to her and yawns.

Realising that both women are now awake Artie launches full force into his rant. “How many times do I have to tell you that artifacts are not toys to be played with? They are stored at the Warehouse for a reason, so stupid people don’t use them for stupid reasons. You could have been permanently stuck in each other’s body. What were you thinking? Myka I expect so much better from you…”

“Hold up Artie.” Claudia cuts him off from his lecture. “This is all my fault. Myka didn’t even know what was happening. I’m sorry I know it was stupid.”

He looks at her with a gruff expression. “Well okay, but this kind of behaviour has to stop Claudia.” He states as he gets up and begins to leave.

“I promise.” She hangs her head in embarrassment as he shuts the door behind him.

“Claude?” Myka puts a hand on her thigh to get her attention.

“What, Myka?” She asks in a small, sad voice.

“Why did you want to switch bodies with me?” Myka asks in confusion.

She lets out a choked laugh and looks at Myka. “I didn’t want to switch bodies with you. I wanted to read your mind.”

“Why on Earth would you want to do that?” Myka notices the tears building in the corners of the redhead’s eyes, but she needs answers.

“I wanted to know what you were feeling. I wanted to know why you’ve been avoiding H.G.” the tears start silently slipping down the younger woman’s cheeks.

Myka wraps a comforting arm around Claudia. “Why didn’t you just ask me?”

“I didn’t know what to say. I’m sorry Myka, I didn’t mean for this to happen.” Her voice breaks on the last word and she start to cry uncontrollably.

Myka wraps both of her arms around the young woman and holds her against her chest while she cries. It’s not often Claudia shows emotion like this and the older agent is reminded of how young the redhead really is.

“Claudia, it’s okay. I’m not angry with you.” She rubs a soothing hand up and down her back.

It takes a moment for Claudia to regain her composure and her voice, so she wipes her eyes with her sleeves and straightens up.

“Will you tell me why you’ve been avoiding H.G.?” Claudia asks in a small voice.

“Have I really been that obvious?” Myka suddenly feels guilty about her behaviour, because it led to this and Claudia crying.

“Well not really, she was upset and I forced her to tell me.”  She watches as Myka hangs her head and her next words come out in a whisper.

“I never meant to upset her. I just needed space from her to think. I’ve been a terrible friend.” A few stray tears run down her face and she doesn’t bother wiping them away.

“Why did you need space?” Claudia rests her face on the taller woman’s shoulder.

“Because I love her and it hurts so much when she’s so close to me and I know nothing will ever happen between us.” Myka’s tears start flowing full force and the choking sobs that follow prompt Claudia to wrap her arms around her waist and hold her until she begins to calm down.

In the silence that follows the redhead breaks out into uncontrollable giggles and the affronted look that Myka gives her turns it into full blown hysterical laughter.

Myka pulls away and gets up off of the bed. “Why are you laughing at me?” She asks in a broken tone.

Claudia’s whole attitude turns serious and she looks Myka directly in the eye. “Because I’ve already had this exact conversation with H.G. about you.”

“What?” Myka stares at her in open mouthed shock.

“You heard me.” Claudia grins at her. “Now I think you should go talk to her.”

Myka lets her smile spread over her entire face, and then she dives on top of Claudia who is currently lying back on her bed. She gathers the smaller woman up in her arms and gives her a crushing hug.

“Thank you so much Claudia.” She laughs into the redhead’s hair.

Claudia lets out a loud laugh and hugs the older woman back. “I know. I’m great. Now get off me and go get your woman.” She pushes Myka back and grins.

Myka stands up and runs her hands through her hair nervously.

“Okay. I’m going to go and tell Helena I love her.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay for the last chapter. I've been crazy busy. I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Myka rushes downstairs to find Helena, but the only person that she can find is Artie, who is busy stashing cookies into his briefcase for later. She wrings her hands nervously as her burst of confidence begins to wane.

“Artie, where is Helena?” she asks quickly as she steps into the kitchen.

“She is at the Warehouse with everyone else. Working, like you should be.” He grumbles at her and storms out.

She jogs outside to find that the only car left at the B&B is Claudia’s Prius. She sighs in frustration and runs her hand through her hair.

“Don’t worry Myka. I’ve got your back.” Claudia states proudly from behind the taller agent. Myka spins around to find the redhead wearing a smug grin and dangling her car keys from her fingertips.

“Claudia, you are amazing!” the agent grins at the younger woman.

Claudia unlocks the car and hops into the driver’s seat, while Myka climbs into the passenger side. The drive to the Warehouse is short, but by the time they have parked the car Myka has started to panic. Claudia gets out and walks around to the passenger door and yanks it open.

“Myka Bering. If you don’t go in there right now and tell that brilliant madwoman how you feel, I will. And we both know that we will all be better off if it comes from you. Now move it!” Claudia has absolutely had enough of Myka and Helena dancing around their feelings. It has been so obvious, for so long that it is driving the younger woman mad with hope and anxiety.

Myka stumbles out of the car and grabs both of the redhead’s hands. Claudia notes with some amusement that not only are the agent’s hands slightly sweaty, they are also shaking.

“Thank you Claudia, for everything.”  The taller woman pulls Claudia in for a tight hug and quickly lets her go again with a smile. She takes two deep, steadying breaths and takes off running into the Warehouse.

She finds Helena in the Pete Cave, of all places, reading Harry Potter.

“Helena I have to talk to you…” Myka manages to pant out after her run down here.

“What’s happened? Are you alright darling?” the Victorian woman sits aside her book and gets up with a concerned look on her face.

“I…Um…” Now that the beautiful Victorian woman is standing in front of her, all of the agent’s words have fled and she can only stutter out useless noises.

“Myka?” Helena raises a gentle hand and places it on her wrist. It’s now or never.

Her eyes drop to the inventor’s lips and before she is even aware of moving she finds herself pressing her own lips against them with a sigh.

Helena, for a shocked moment does not respond, but then her lips are moving against Myka’s and both women begin clutching at each other’s clothes, pulling each other closer until their bodies are completely pressed together.

The need for oxygen is becoming urgent but neither woman wants to be the one to pull away first and break this moment. Reluctantly Myka breaks the kiss, so she can suck in some much needed air, but she keeps a loose grip on Helena’s cheek and rests their foreheads together. Both women are panting slightly and wearing matching grins when they hear someone clear their throat from the doorway.

Myka jerks back from Helena to find Pete grinning from ear to ear and giving her a congratulatory thumbs up. A fierce blush burns its way up her neck and across her cheeks and she glances at the inventor to find her shocked into silence. Myka takes two shaky breaths and runs from the room.

Myka’s abrupt absence startles Helena back to reality and she turns to glare at Pete, who can only offer her a confused shrug in response. 

She marches towards the door to go and find the curly haired agent, but Pete grabs her arm and pulls her to a stop.

“Listen, H.G. I have to say that I’ve seen this coming for a while and I’m happy that you and Mykes are finally together, but I wouldn’t be filling the big brother role well if I also didn’t tell you that if you ever hurt her I will end you.” He crosses his arms and tries to give her a stern glare, but the smile that he is trying to force down breaks apart the severity of his words.

Helena gives him a playful shove and quietly responds “Pete you are an idiot sometimes. You of all people should know that I would never intentionally do anything to cause harm to Myka. I love her.”

Pete pulls her into a crushing bear hug and whispers into her hair. “I know. Now go find her.”

He releases her and she gives him a small smile before running out to find the woman that she has fallen hopelessly in love with.

 

***

 

Steve and Claudia are on their way to do inventory when they find Myka pacing back and forth in one of the aisles. Claudia runs up to grab the agent’s hand and lets a large grin split across her face.

“So Myka, did you find her?”

“Yes.” The taller agent whispers back.

Claudia lets out a small squeal which causes Steve to smirk. “And… Details!”

A bashful smile creeps onto her face and she laughs “Well I couldn’t think of anything to say so I kissed her. Then I kind of ran away.”

“Oh my God! This is fantastic news! Wait. Did you say you ran away? Why?” Claudia stops bouncing and stares at the taller woman in confusion.

“I panicked a little bit. I didn’t know what to say and then Pete was there. I just needed a second to think.” Myka grins shyly.

“What is there to think about? You’re hot. She’s hot. You’re both ridiculously smart, you should have this all figured out by now.” Claudia huffs in annoyance.

A soft laugh reaches them from the end of the aisle and they turn to see Helena walking towards them with a confident smirk in place on her face.

“Well darling, when you put it like that, I suppose we should have.” She glances in the direction of the young redhead and winks at her, before stopping directly in front of Myka and gently taking her hands into her own.

The Victorian woman looks the taller agent in the eye and states seriously “I should have told you a long time ago how I felt about you, but I was being a fool. I love you.”

She leans in and reclaims Myka’s lips. Both women moan and press together like there was never anywhere else that they were supposed to be. They are so wrapped up in their battle of teeth and tongues that they don’t hear Claudia squealing in delight, or see Steve pass her a handful of cash. They don’t even notice the artifacts beginning to glow and spin around them, until Artie sprays them both with a neutraliser hose. They break apart laughing and covered head to toe in purple, sticky goo.

“I love you too.” Myka smiles.

“How many times do I have to tell you people that you have to control your emotions around artifacts?” Artie grumbles fiercely at them, before turning and spraying Claudia with the hose.

“Hey! What was that for?” a now purple, dripping Claudia whines at him.

Steve starts laughing hysterically at the three shocked, purple women standing around him. Artie glares at him and threatens him with the hose as well before turning and leaving them all laughing in a sticky mess.

Claudia tries to wipe her hair off of her face and she shares a conspiratorial grin with the two older women. All at once the three soaking women tackle Steve to the ground into the goo puddle, successfully drenching him in goo too.

“All right, this stuff smells weird. I’m going for a shower.” Claudia announces as she stands herself up on the precariously slippery floor.

“Yep, me too.” Steve agrees. He glances at the two older women and smiles. “Claude and I will use the decontamination showers here and you two can head back to the B&B.”

“Alright I guess we’ll see you guys later.” Myka takes Helena’s hand and they begin to walk back out to the car.

Once they are out of sight Claudia jumps up and down and squeals at Steve again, her excitement blatantly obvious to him.

“You did good Claude. They are a perfect match for each other.”

 

***

 

Everyone is at the B&B sharing a holiday dinner for Christmas Eve, there are Christmas decorations scattered throughout their home, presents under their tree and everyone, except Pete, is indulging in some of Mrs Frederic’s homemade eggnog. Claudia sits back in her chair and glances around at her family. Pete is stuffing himself full of food and flirting shamelessly with Abigail, Steve and Mrs Frederic are slowly but successfully trying to get Artie drunk and Myka and Helena are holding hands under the table with eyes for no-one but each other.

It has been six months since Helena and Myka officially started dating and aside from a few awkward occasions involving unlocked doors they have never been happier. Claudia grins to herself and thinks back to some of the trouble she got herself into while trying to get them together. Steve notices her smiling at them and, like he can read her mind, drunkenly yells across the table at her.

“Hey Claude! Do you remember the day you convinced me to join your mission to get Myka and H.G. together?”

The table falls silent and everyone looks at the redhead. Myka breaks the silence and asks “What mission? What’s he talking about Claude?”

She blushes under the scrutiny and laughs “Well I may have intervened a little bit to help you guys work out your feelings.”

“A little bit?” Steve laughs “Claude was coming up with schemes for months! I think you said it would be, and I quote ‘the greatest accomplishment of the decade’ if we could pull it off.”

Everyone chuckles and glances at the two women. Helena is laughing and Myka smiles at her and turns back to Claudia. “We weren’t that bad.”

“Oh you really were.” Pete chimes in.

“Claudia darling, when did you start trying to get us together?” Helena questions.

“Um, do you remember that day we were working on the holographic projector in my room and I, uh, tackled you.” Helena nods. “Yeah, then.” Claudia laughs nervously.

Helena laughs in astonishment “That truly was months. What did you do to intervene? Because I never suspected.”

All eyes turn back to Claudia and Steve starts laughing again. “Well the first thing was pretty obvious. I sat you down in Artie’s office and told you to tell Myka how you felt, but when you shot me down I decided to take a less direct approach.”

“Do you remember the day that Myka and Abigail spent six hours trapped in the bathroom? That was Claude. Although we thought that we had locked Helena in there instead.” Steve chuckles.

“That was you!” Abigail asks in shock “I had that door replaced because I thought it was faulty.”

Steve leans forward and grins conspiratorially at Claudia, as the young woman blushes. He holds up his fingers and starts counting off her failed plans.

“Well aside from those there was the day that H.G. ended up topless in the kitchen, the day Myka had to tackle naked Claudia, the sneaky flowers on your pillows, the Copenhagen hotel room incident, and the day your hands got glued together. Oh! That whole Myka, Claudia body swap thing, your underwear getting mixed up in the wash and she volunteered to clean the Gooery so you two could take a mission together.”

As Steve spoke Myka and Helena’s jaws dropped open in surprise and Pete is attempting to hide his laughter behind his hand. Claudia meanwhile, has turned bright red and is staring intensely at her plate.

“All of that was to get us together?” Myka asks incredulously.

“Yeah. Some things worked out a lot better than others.” The redhead laughs quietly.

“Well you were quite persistent.” Helena smiles brightly at her.

“Totally worth all those times Artie had to yell at me.” Claudia laughs loudly this time while Artie just glares at her.

Later that night as Claudia gets in bed she smiles to herself at the thought of how happy her family is and how lucky she is to be a part of it. Mrs Frederic had challenged Artie and Steve to a drinking game and both of the men are now passed out downstairs, while the mysterious older woman had walked steadily out the door when it was time to go.

She switches her light off and closes her eyes, but she turns to the door as she hears it slide open. She startles a bit when two bodies throw themselves onto her bed and wrap her up in a crushing hug.

“What are you guys doing?” she laughs.

“Thanking you for pushing us when we needed it.” Myka says quietly.

“I don’t believe we ever would have gathered the courage to tell each other how we felt without you.” Helena whispers.

“You are my family and I love you guys.” Claudia grins into the darkness.

“We love you too Claude.” Myka hugs her tighter.

Pete opens the door the next morning to find the three women passed out in Claudia’s bed and smiles to himself. All of his favourite people are happy and together and life could not possibly be better.

The whole household wakes up about half an hour later to the smoke alarm going off and a sheepish Pete attacking the burning kitchen with a fire extinguisher. Helena takes Myka’s hand and kisses her softly and honestly they could not care less.


End file.
